Wheel repair... Marteen's Garage DIY special

[gtfour77]

Well I finally set up a DIY wheel straightener (very simple) in my garage. Thought I'd let you guys know that I can now straighten basic curb damage (bend on the inside of the rim) if it's not a two-axis bend (entire wheel bent) on any of your aluminum wheels. Might be able to fix a steel rim also but have not attempted that yet... Pictures and possibly a video coming soon. I am repairing two of my fairly badly bent rims tonight.

[snake bit]

I happen to know someone (wink, wink) with a couple very slightly bent rims just sitting in their garage. I can't tell they're bent by looking but I had them run on a balancer and the tech said they are very slightly bent.

I had a third but it was more significantly damaged and it's now the coolest garden hose hanger in my neighborhood!

[gtfour77]

Hmmm, I need to find a hub that will fit...(assuming it's vette wheel corect?) you don't happen to have an extra spindle do you?
I forgot to mention in the earlier post that I can only do 5x114.3 (5x4.5), 5x100 and 4x100...for now..

[gtfour77]

Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA3ExkMPhD8

It's more of a tutorial but at least you can see how it's done...

[CabotTeg118]

Very cool! Are those the wheels you bent at Danville last year?

[snake bit]

Hmmm, I need to find a hub that will fit...(assuming it's vette wheel corect?) you don't happen to have an extra spindle do you?
I forgot to mention in the earlier post that I can only do 5x114.3 (5x4.5), 5x100 and 4x100...for now..


Yes, the two rears. I think the bolt pattern is 5X4.75?? Not sure though. No extra spindle. I wouldn't worry about it, Martin. I would have let you experiment with them if you wanted to but it's not a big deal. They're not worth much even straight. I bought an entire new set, that the stickies are on now, for less than $600 and I paid a premium because they were spotless. I picked them up on the forums from a guy that had aftermarket wheels put on the day he picked up the car and kept the factory wheels in boxes for the next four years! A used set that is more "used" than that goes for only $400 to $450 now. Mine have a little curb rash as well so they would definately be in the lower category of used, even perfectly straight.

Speaking of straight, I looked at them again just now and I still cannot find damage. When I roll them on my unfinished garage floor (which is smooth as glass) they even roll true. No humps, wobbles, nothing. The tech that put them on the balancer wrote "bent .099" on one and "bent .142" on the other. Compared to the ones in your video, that seems like a very small amount to me, only 1/8 to 1/10 of an inch. So, I'm wondering, is that close enough that they would balance properly with maybe a little larger than normal wheel weight? I don't need them but maybe if I ever decided to go SM or something, they'd be good to have for running a 315/18 on all four corners? Never know, I guess.

[snake bit]

Dang, almost forgot: very cool video!

[administerturbo]

very nice vid martin. you could mount a needle guage on that bar and have an instrument that would show you a more exact deviation and focus it on the bead area since that's what your concerned with. they are usually mounted on bicycle wheel truing stands.
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/shopmiva/tools_discbrakes.html
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/shopmiva/images/Morningstar%20Tools/r2oc-tech.jpg

[gtfour77]

Very cool! Are those the wheels you bent at Danville last year?

Yes those are...four bent wheels total...:clap: What I did was switch wheels half way through so I was able to damage more of them at the same event... heh Looks like the courses are being designed around the transition nowadays so this will not be an issue in the future... I blame it on the tires as the transition really wasn't that bad at all, it's just with the speed and skinny tires any sort of bump in the road becomes an enemy...

[gtfour77]

Yes, the two rears. I think the bolt pattern is 5X4.75?? Not sure though. No extra spindle. I wouldn't worry about it, Martin. I would have let you experiment with them if you wanted to but it's not a big deal. They're not worth much even straight. I bought an entire new set, that the stickies are on now, for less than $600 and I paid a premium because they were spotless. I picked them up on the forums from a guy that had aftermarket wheels put on the day he picked up the car and kept the factory wheels in boxes for the next four years! A used set that is more "used" than that goes for only $400 to $450 now. Mine have a little curb rash as well so they would definately be in the lower category of used, even perfectly straight.

Speaking of straight, I looked at them again just now and I still cannot find damage. When I roll them on my unfinished garage floor (which is smooth as glass) they even roll true. No humps, wobbles, nothing. The tech that put them on the balancer wrote "bent .099" on one and "bent .142" on the other. Compared to the ones in your video, that seems like a very small amount to me, only 1/8 to 1/10 of an inch. So, I'm wondering, is that close enough that they would balance properly with maybe a little larger than normal wheel weight? I don't need them but maybe if I ever decided to go SM or something, they'd be good to have for running a 315/18 on all four corners? Never know, I guess.

Anything over 1/16" is going to be noticeable on the road IMHO... If your damage is that small you could easily run them the way they are for autocross... Heck the two darker wheels (one of them is the first one in the video) I used for all my national competition this year with no big problems....and they were bent pretty badly in couple different spots... Sweet! Now I have an excuse why I am driving so slow...:clap:

I will try to find a vette spindle and see if I can get them straightened for you Jerry. If anyone has one (5x4.75 is correct I think) please let me know...

Glad to hear you're already considering going to a higher class! SSM or XP would be a lot of fun in the vette!

[gtfour77]

very nice vid martin. you could mount a needle guage on that bar and have an instrument that would show you a more exact deviation and focus it on the bead area since that's what your concerned with. they are usually mounted on bicycle wheel truing stands.
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/shopmiva/tools_discbrakes.html
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/shopmiva/images/Morningstar%20Tools/r2oc-tech.jpg


Thanks for the link Nate, I actually do have a dial indicator but my methods of straightening the wheels is not that exact and simple pointer does work well for now. When I get more serious with it I will certainly use a more precise indicator.. Some nice tools in the link!

[SeanB]

My life is worth slightly more than the replacement cost of that wheel.

[gtfour77]

My life is worth slightly more than the replacement cost of that wheel.

Not mine... :smile:

[Hillbilly]

Mine neither, good work Marteen.

[snake bit]

Martin, really, no big deal. If an appropriate spindle drops from the sky and you want to mess with them that's cool, otherwise I'll just store them in case I ever end up in a class where I can run 18s all around. It sounds like they'd be just fine as-is for AX duty. I just don't see that happening any time soon though. The car does so well stock and I'm really enjoying it on the street. I just can't see spending large sums for miniscule improvements that would hurt every day driveability.

See you Sunday, weather permitting!

[gtfour77]

What I posted on racepa:
Quick update, just got back from re-mounting my old tires onto the two worst wheels (unfortunatelly those were the ones I used for DC Pro, Peru and Toledo on the front prior to being straightened ) and what a difference. I used about half the weights and the wheel/tire roundness was nearly perfect... (before you could see the entire balancer shaking with the tire on the inside edge being pretty badly out of round) Anyway, just thought I'd report back for interested parties...


Jerry, I will see what I can come up with, I would not mind having a vette spindle, especially when I perfect the "straightening gizmo"... :smile:

[2ndShot]

Martin, Are you set-up to straighten Audi/VW wheels?

[RobbieNelson]

How about go kart axles? ha ha

[gtfour77]

Martin, Are you set-up to straighten Audi/VW wheels?

Is it 5x100mm bolt pattern? I should be able to do it... Call me (3045415420) or email me at gtfour77@yahoo.com.

Robbie, sorry to hear about your axle, hope it's an easy replacement. Hope you still have the scales, I'll need them in a couple of months if possible..

[RobbieNelson]

http://www.wvmotorsports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16858

[PRICHMON]

+1 on Kart axle and wheel...

Martin can I hit you up in a week or so for a bend repair on a 16" 5x100?

[gtfour77]

Rich, not sure if I can do it, would have to take a look at it. The smaller wheels are harder to fix unfortunately.